Ginny was dead.

Ginny was dead.

Oh my God, Ginny was dead. Gone. Never to return to this earthly plane. Never to stop and smell the flowers, like she was always reminding him.

Ginny was dead.

Harry lay a broken man, sitting at home, mourning the loss of his fiancé. Colin Creevy had committed suicide, which had prompted Dennis to do the same. Neville showed his first sign of emotion in months, allowing a single tear to escape his Cruciatus-induced catatonia. Voldemort had found it funny to subject Neville to the same living death his parents had experienced, until the Death Eaters had gotten to them.

Ron had found it ironic that the only thing to bring Neville out, the real Neville, even the slightest bit, was the news of the death of a loved one.

Ginny was dead.

Ron's baby sister was dead. He was the youngest now.

Mum hadn't eaten in weeks. Her once plump body sagged, as much from her loss of spirit as her dramatic loss of weight. Charlie, on the other hand, had eaten non-stop. Luckily, he had the Weasley metabolism, but he was losing his clearly defined muscles. Dad had lost all interest in Muggles. He just sat at home, gazing into space, as if looking hard enough could find Ginny and bring her back.

But she wouldn't come back. Ginny was dead.

He hadn't believed them at first, having just come back from a lovely date at Hogsmeade with Hermione. He thought Fred and George were kidding, goofing off as usual. Then he had seen their faces. They hadn't been kidding.

He hadn't been out with Hermione since. She understood, he supposed. She had come by, not saying anything, just holding him and encouraging him to cry, to let it out. And he had. He had bawled like a baby, he had sobbed, he had sniffled, he had wailed. He had gotten some terrific headaches, but never felt better. Ginny was still dead.

Ron fingered the jewellery box in his trouser pocket. He had planned to ask Hermione to marry him soon. Now, it seemed an affront to Ginny's memory to become engaged when the man she had loved sat at home, in the dark, fingering her ring and crying.

Ginny was dead.

And the Weasley family was broken.